1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the application of forage additive to harvested agricultural crops for the purpose of preserving the crops in an untainted condition with a majority of its nutrients for later feeding to livestock. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the application of forage additives in a precisely controlled pattern so that the amount of water utilized with the forage additives is vastly reduced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art that the application of particular types of forage additives to harvested agricultural crops is highly advantageous in preserving the original nutrients in the crops to make them more nutritious for later feeding to livestock. As a result, a variety of devices and methods have previously been utilized for this purpose. For example, when forage is harvested by driving a crop chopper through a field, the harvested forage is often sprayed with forage additives such as inoculants as it is being harvested. A typical forage inoculant includes one or more strains of microorganisms, enzymes, and/or other chemicals. A common problem with inoculants is that if they are mixed with water in large reservoir tanks as is commonly done, all of the inoculant must be used in a specified period of time or its effectiveness can be highly diminished. As a result, often times under such conditions inoculant is wasted or must be discarded.
One prior art system for avoiding this problem is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/075,110 and incorporates a dual supply system for water and a concentrated inoculant which are mixed together immediately prior to being applied to a harvested crop. The concentrated inoculant is precisely distributed to a water supply line by a peristaltic pump to control the amount of inoculant being supplied and to maintain the inoculant in an effective condition until needed.
The apparatus disclosed in the '110 application has been sold by Pioneer Hi-Bred International since at least 1998. Although such apparatus is highly effective in limiting the amount of inoculant that is wasted or discarded, the apparatus is still dependent upon the incorporation of a relatively large supply of fresh water for mixing with the inoculant during the application process. In view of the fact that fresh water is not readily available in a typical agricultural field, arrangements must be made to provide a temporary supply of fresh water on location or else the harvesting equipment on which the apparatus is utilized must be driven to a source of water. In any event, harvesting time is wasted as a result of the use of a relatively large quantity of water during the application process.
The present invention is adapted to provide a method and an apparatus that can precisely and efficiently apply forage additives to harvested crop without the utilization of a large fresh water source of supply and, therefore, significantly minimizes the amount of water that is utilized during the application process and the harvesting time that would normally be wasted with the use of prior art sprayer apparatus.